Organizational Info

Biobank Infrastructure Info

Services at MIBI

At THL, we have a 40-year tradition of collecting large, prospective cohorts to study the risk factors associated with chronic diseases, cancer and mental illness. These cohorts are followed up using national registers to track hospitalization events, drug usage and death. At FIMM, we have established during 2011 the first biobank projects, aiming to collect a rich set of biological samples and clinical information on cancer patients, and serving as open access biorepositories.

Our biobanking service facility, Meilahti Integrated Biobank Infrastructure (MIBI), is located at Biomedicum 2U at the Meilahti Campus in Helsinki. It includes large scale automated DNA and RNA extraction and storage facilities. In addition, we offer cell culture services, and tissue microarray and molecular pathology services, coupled with digital microscopy and image analysis facility. The biobank infrastructure presently houses DNA from more than 200 000 individuals and RNA and serum/plasma samples from thousands of individuals. It is equipped with state-of-the-art bar coding system for sample tracking, an automated Chemagen DNA and RNA extraction equipment, liquid handling robots, storage facilities, and tailor made data management tools for optimal confidentiality and quality control.